Lon referred to "the Mosaic Movement". Hmm...
I wouldn't call it a movement. I like how Brian McLaren describes Emergent: it's a conversation.
I think Mosaic is a conversation. Perhaps even a model. But I hope it never becomes a movement. A movement is what Christianity is supposed to be. Mosaic should never replace Jesus, should never even attempt to compete with Him, in that arena.
I read an article recently about the Emerging Church conference and it sounded very much like a regular Sunday morning at Mosaic, full of chaos, confusion, miscommunications, frustration on the part of some leaders because of the all the aforementioned... Yeah, that pretty much sums up many of the Sundays I spent at Mosaic/The Church on Brady.
So why did I stay? Because it is all worth it. All the chaos, frustration, confusion, miscommunication, long days, long nights... it's all worth it. The community forged within that arena, the bonds we all share because of our common experiences and, more importantly, our common convictions and goals. I also believe in, and stand behind, Mosaic's core values.
Core Values
Mission is why the church exists.
Love is the context for all mission.
Relevance to culture is not optional.
Structure must always submit to Spirit.
Creativity is the natural result of spirituality.
It's an interesting thing, really. These core values were present when I first arrived, long before we changed our name to Mosaic, and even before Erwin was Lead Pastor. However, Erwin had the foresight, and insight, to distill them down to bite size phrases, as well as to sum up the main theme of our community and communicate them to a new generation of leaders hungry for community at its most primal level.
I believe the instilling of these core values into Church on Brady/Mosaic is owed to Bro. Tom, Carol Davis, and all the other staff, leaders and elders from Brady's past. These core values expressed through people's lives were the very things that attracted me to Brady.
I felt a strong sense of God's presence as soon as I walked through the door. I knew the people here lived by their faith, not just expressed it on Sundays. Not only that, there was true community at Brady. I know Erwin is at times fond of talking about how he nixed the "Welcome" time because members were stepping over guests to greet each other. However, I never saw that in my years at Mosaic. In fact, to quite the contrary, I'm the product of members constantly greeting me. Even after I was serving on the sound team I was often greeted by members whom I had not yet met and who welcomed me warmly during that welcome time. I saw how much they loved the Lord through how the showered me with attention and love. I also saw servanthood modeled by staff and elders that I'd never seen before. I remember seeing a staff member straightening chairs and cleaning up trash between services. It's an image that will long stay in my memory. My dad had served on staff and several churches, and I don't ever remember seeing anyone on staff doing such "menial" labor. I was amazed, and I was hooked. I felt compelled to follow their leading. I also saw hope reflected in the lives of the people around me. They followed hard after Jesus, which means they often took hard blows in life. But they never gave up, never stopped serving Jesus, no matter what happened. They also never pretended to not hurt, or pretended all was well in life. They were honest about where they were and what they were feeling.
Mosaic's roots are found in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4. We strive to be a community:
Living by faith
Known by love
And is voice of hope to the world.
Ultimately, this is what we all strive to be at Mosaic. It's fleshed out in the core values, but this is it at it's most basic. If you want to be a part of the Mosaic conversation, this is the place to start. Community.
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